Asian Outlook | Fall 2022 Issue #1 by Asian Outlook

ASIAN OUTLOOK

October 2022 Vol. XLIV, Issue 1

Five Chill Games for a Cozy Day Learning to be Filipino

Volume XLIV, Issue 1

contents ASIAN OUTLOOK

featured 4 | Five Chill Games for a Cozy Day | Nan Lin 9 | Learning to be Filipino | Hubert Zhou

Front cover photos by MapTrove

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letter from the editor... Dear Readers, August has come and gone, and now we are halfway through a new semester. School looks different this year; we are all video game characters who have unlocked a crucial new upgrade: seeing the bottom half of our professors’ and classmates’ faces. But whether we are freshmen who are relieved to have avoided “COVID college” or seniors itching to leave, we all recognize the power of one thing: our culture. On a college campus with 18 thousand students, it is easy to melt into the crowd and forget where you came from — what kind of food your parents cook, what kind of street you live on, the countries your family may have left behind. More broadly, the theme of this issue was “travel around the world.” The culture we were raised with is only half of the story; where we are going in the future is equally important. Contributors shared with us family recipes and reflections on identity, but they also dreamt up board games with dazzling global destinations. Whether you prefer reflecting on the past or striding into the future, this issue has something for everyone. Thank you to the Conscience Editor, copy editors and layout editors for your tireless work. Thank you to the rest of Asian Outlook — historians, media producers, publicity chairs, event coordinators, the secretary, senior advisor, financial vice president, vice president and president — for your support and for making this organization a true home for Binghamton students and their work. Go forth and be proud of your journey. With gratitude, admiring leaves shifting from green into red, Kathryn Lee Editor-in-Chief

ASIAN OUTLOOK EXECUTIVE BOARD FALL 2022 President Vice President Editor-in-Chief Conscience Editor Secretary Treasurer Senior Advisor Copy Editors layout editors

Publicity Chairs Event Coordinators Historians Media Producer

Kathryn Kwon Vivian Zhu Kathryn Lee Celeste Pietrzak Anna Liu Adrian Wu Grace Chen Jessica Kwok Jina Wu Yaying Zhao Megan Pan Suhyeon Kwon Tina Oh Bryan Wang Anna Liu Kayla Maharani Jenny Zhao Kaysie Liang Annie Liang Fatima Gonzalez Michelle Chan Nan Lin

EDITORIAL POLICY

Asian Outlook is the art, literary and news magazine of the Asian Student Union of SUNY’s Binghamton University. Originally conceived and created to challenge, redefine, re-imagine and revolutionize images and perceptions associated with Asians and Asian Americans, Asian Outlook also serves to protect the voice of those in the minority, whether by ethnicity, gender, and/or political orientation. All matter contained within these beautiful pages do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board. Asian Outlook reserves the right to edit submissions and publish work as deemed appropriate. Prospective contributors are encouraged to discuss their work with the editors prior to submissions. All submissions may be submitted as e-mail attachments to ao.editor@gmail.com.

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Uninvited contact with writers and contributors is strictly prohibited. Please direct all questions, comments and complaints to ao.editor@gmail. com. E-mail us at: ao.editor@GMAIL.com For more info check us out on facebook: FACEBOOK.com/asianoutlook/ Look at our past issues on Issuu: ISSUU.com/asianoutlook Inside Outlook Podcasts: ANCHOR.fm/asianoutlook

Vol. XLIV, Issue I 3

five chill games perfect for a cozy rainy day

By Nan Lin

“Good Pizza, Great Pizza”

Albert Einstein visiting your little pizza shop with a little riddle.

Photo from the “Good Pizza, Great Pizza” Fandom page.

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ere we have yet another pizzeria simulation game — but this one stands out from the rest with its cute doodle-like art style and relaxing game play. There’s no stress to reach a certain amount of sales or customers — you can play at your own pace. The customers all have interesting personalities and ask for their pizzas in the weirdest ways possible, making you interpret what they want. There’s also a plot for each chapter and special customers, like a pizza cult that tests your pizza-making capabilities, a robot that comes to steal your recipe and famous celebrities like Einstein, Elon Musk and Marilyn Monroe. “Good Pizza, Great Pizza” is available on mobile, Windows and Mac.

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons”

nce a classic, still a classic. Animal Crossing has long solidified their brand, from “Happy Home Designer” on 3DS to “Pocket Camp” on mobile to “New Horizons” on Nintendo Switch. Their adorable characters with unique personalities have captured the hearts of many. “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” is one of the most popular of the series. You are brought to an empty island with Tom Nook (scamming manager) and two random villagers for a vacation. You are then elected to be the resident representative and forced to do a lot of unpaid work, from collecting materials around the island to building furniture to recruiting new villagers. Though you are scammed into paying for a vacation just to do a lot of hard labor, it’s a fun time. You get to decorate your island and chill with your beloved villagers and even watch shooting stars together.

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” is only available on Nintendo Switch, but you can also try the other “Animal Crossing” games if you do not own a Switch.

My island is still in its questionable stage, so here is a pretty island from the “Animal Crossing” official website.

“SpiritFarer”

ant a game to play while cuddling up in your bed? “SpiritFarer” is a hotel simulation game with a twist. You are, as the name suggests, a caretaker for dead spirits until they are ready to move on and cross over. You and your cat (which can be controlled by another player) operate a little hotel on a boat and go around places to scout for resources and pick up new villagers. You can fish as well as cook for the villagers, talk to them, hug them, and build rooms for them. I haven’t gotten to a point where a villager leaves me, but I’m sure that such an event is very sad because players start to connect with the villagers throughout their time on the boat. They all have unique personalities and help you a lot during their time there.

“SpiritFarer” is available on Nintendo Switch, Mac, Windows, Linux, Playstation and Xbox.

You build buildings and other things to satisfy your residents. Photo from Thunder Lotus Games.

Vol. XLIV, Issue I 5

“Unpacking”

you love keeping your room tidy? Or do you not like keeping your room tidy? Either way, you will probably find organizing this virtual little house therapeutic. You move into a new room and are given many boxes of things that you have to put in your room. You take the things out one by one and try to find a fitting spot for them. At first sight, it seems somewhat like a children’s game, but it is actually quite fun and relaxing.

“Unpacking” is available on Xbox, Switch, Windows and Mac.

A photo of a finished room featuring my questionable organizational skills.

r The “Unpacking” home page.

“Donut County”

ver played “hole.io”? Well, this is “hole.io” but better. The story is about BK, a raccoon who starts a donut shop. Whenever someone orders a donut, a hole (you) opens up where they are and swallows everything, including the people who ordered the donut. The basic mechanics are the same as “hole.io” but the story is hilarious. The things you are able to swallow are more interactive and fun and there’s a different map and objects every time. Other interesting mechanics include the hole filling One of the residents complaining about her experience and about how I up with water or being able to push sent her son flying in a hot air balloon. buttons and swings. The plot and levels take a flashback route where you listen to people share their stories about what they were doing before they were swallowed by the hole. Then, you move on to doing the actual swallowing as if you were taking part in the flashback in real time. “Donut County” is available on Xbox, Windows, Mac, Switch, Playstation and mobile.

If you do decide to try any of the games, let me know how it goes! 6 ASIAN OUTLOOK

By Dolan Ma

am most proud of the food in my culture. Some dishes that I love in Chinese culture are dim sum and chow fan. The taste of Chinese food reminds me of my family, and how we would all sit around the dinner table at 6 in the evening: eating, talking and laughing together. I love Chinese food! :D

Vol. XLIV, Issue I 7

In my culture, I think I am most proud of the fact that everyone is willing to engage with one another. I believe the term is “collective” — making me feel like I belong in this one big family of people who I don’t necessarily have a blood relation to. Though Cantonese gatherings can get a little loud sometimes, there’s a pleasant feel to that as well.

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Learning to be Filipino

By Hubert Zhou

aving a last name and face that yelled “Chinese,” I was quickly labeled as just that at a school where the Chinese and Korean population was at large. Whenever I told people I was Filipino, they would always be surprised. My school had few Filipinos — what did a Filipino even look like? Growing up, I wanted to fit in and be like everyone else (but better). Thus I

fell into the label given me, continuously introducing my ethnicity as Chinese. Whenever people teased me for my middle name, I shrugged it off, neglecting my Filipino half even further. It took me years (and a few fun trips to my cousins in Manila) to truly embrace both halves of my culture, and myself. From the occasional longanisa breakfasts, to the extra long drives just to get to a Jollibee, to avoiding balut at a family dinner, I’ve grown to embrace and love my culture. I’ve grown to love the way we value family and eat dinner together each night — the way my mom has rapid conversations on the phone in Tagalog. Being Filipino in America pushed me to love being my own person and to value the relationships I’ve built with the people around me. Now whenever someone asks about my ethnicity, I can proudly say I’m both Chinese and Filipino.

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Vol. XLIV, Issue I 9

BUDAE JJIGAE By Eugenia Woo

Budae jjigae is a comforting dish that is super easy and simple to make! Not only is it delicious, but it also contains a lot of vegetables and protein, which is essential in a meal. Besides the sauce, everything just needs to be cut or sliced. Also, all the ingredients are optional, so you can either add or remove them. Budae jjigae translates to Army Stew and it has this name because it was created in the early 1950s during the Korean War! I recommend using a shallow pot, but a regular pot works — it just won’t look presentable, and all the ingredients will be mixed together, which isn’t really what budae jjigae calls for. This dish serves around 3-5 people.

Ingredients BASE

. Chicken Stock SAUCE

. 2 tablespoons gochugaru (red pepper flakes work too) . 2 tablespoons rice wine . 1 tablespoon soy sauce . 1 tablespoon minced garlic

(but to be honest I love garlic so I use a lot more)

. ½ tablespoon gochujang . ½ tablespoon sugar . black pepper

INGREDIENTS

. Spam, sliced . Sausage, sliced . Tofu, sliced . Enoki mushrooms . Bok choy . Kimchi . Beans . Rice cakes (any rice cake works) . Ramen noodles (any type of noodle works) . Sliced cheese . Green onions . Egg . Cooked dumplings

* add/remove vegetables and cooked meat as desired! Photos from Omnivore’s Cookbook, Food Network and Ecloud Shop

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Directions 1.

Put all of the ingredients into a pot* (except for the rice cakes, ramen noodles, sliced cheese, green onion and cooked dumplings). Add the sauce in the middle of the pot and then pour in the chicken broth from the side of the pot. Close the lid and cook it on medium high heat until it starts boiling (about 8 minutes). *I love to lay out the ingredients so when everything in the pot is finished cooking, you can grab whatever you want to eat.

After, add the remaining ingredients (rice cakes, ramen noodles, sliced cheese, green onion, egg and cooked dumplings) in the stew and boil it until the noodles are cooked (2-3 minutes).

Serve the dish and you’re done!** **Rice is a great addition to this meal, yum!

I love eating this dish when I’m kind of lazy to make food and have a bunch of ingredients laying around. Budae jjigae is definitely a dish to share with friends while watching a fun movie during a long day :) I included a photo of the budae jjigae I made before, but we didn’t have vegetables then… I hope that you have fun making this dish and that you enjoy it! Vol. XLIV, Issue I 11

n o C

cience

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unhyphenated can culture ever be something that can be grasped in our hands and held onto firmly? to me, it is often something so much more enigmatic and malleable. was part of it left stranded on the other side of the pacific ocean when my parents and grandparents landed on american soil? Does another part of it linger, like the scent left by the cooking of a dinner shared with family, across our tables, then in our stomachs and coursing through our veins, in the conversations of our relatives that I struggle to understand, trapped inside the object I picked on my one-hundredth day on earth, captured in ornaments scattered on our shelves and coaxed alive in unbroken rituals? is it created through division and contrast, by the comments I received growing up from those who saw my differences sticking out like an un-hammered nail, forcing me to decide what I was and what I was not? culture, I have come to know, is something that we can define for ourselves, whether the hyphen straddling the labels “Asian” and “American” in the term used to define my identity are uniting or further separating those two words is up to me. whether I am “asian enough” despite my low command of the language that my parents and grandparents can speak, or “american enough” despite the country I was born in seeming to reject me in a dozen subtle ways isn’t a question meant for others to answer for me. even if it is hard to do so, answer for yourself.

P Y H

written by Jack Byun illustrated by Alura Tom

Vol. XLIV, Issue I 13

Spring Roll Recipe

no idea e v a h I : ize Serving S o idea on Time: Als

by Annie Liang

INGREDIENTS:

√ 2 teaspoons sugar √ 1 teaspoon sesame oil √ 1 teaspoon cooking wine √ 1 tablespoon Korean barbecue sauce √ 1-2 egg whites √ 1 package of spring roll pastry

√ 3/4 pound pork √ 1/2 carrot √ 20 grams vermicelli noodles √ dried black fungus

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f esy o t r Cou

om* m s ’ nnie

INSTRUCTIONS:

Prepping the Ingredients: 1. Wash and soak the dried black fungus until soft and not brittle. 2. Cook the vermicelli noodles as per the instructions on the packaging. 3. Cut the vermicelli noodles into smaller pieces. 4. Wash and shred the carrots (don’t be nasty, wash your vegetables).

Filling:

Frying: 1. Put spring rolls in very hot oil (hot enough to fry, but not hot enough to burn a kitchen down). a. Be careful to not overcrowd the fryer. 2. Wait for the rolls to float to the top before putting it on a rack or paper towels to let excess oil drain. 3. Re-fry the spring rolls again to make them extra crispy. 4. Repeat step 2.

1. In a big bowl, combine the pork, shredded carrots, vermicelli noodles,black fungus, salt, sugar, sesame oil, cooking wine and Korean barbecue sauce. 2. Mix together.

Rolling: 1. Take about half a fist’s worth of filling and place in the center of one corner of the pastry. 2. Fold both sides in and roll. 3. On the opposite corners, at the ends of the roll, use a bit of the egg whites to seal the spring roll together.

Vol. XLIV, Issue I 15

Easy Pearl Barley Soup Recipe By Jenny Zhao

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Ingredients 1 chicken breast 2 pounds of pork bone Chinese yam (also called cinnamon vine) Chinese pearl barley Dried polygonatum (also called Solomon’s Seal) Dried lotus seeds Dried lily bulbs Dried jujube Dried goji berries Candied dates

Directions Step 1: Wash all of the ingredients. Step 2: Fill the pot with water and add all of the ingredients. Step 3: Boil for 2 hours. Step 4: Salt to taste. Step 5: Enjoy!

*Pro Asian Tip: if there are no measurements, eyeball it until you feel like there’s enough.* Vol. XLIV, Issue I 17

There is something so universal about dumplings. You can find dumplings in any shape or form in any culture: ravioli, mandu, pierogies and so many more. Each dumpling varies in fillings to fit the eater’s taste, and I think that’s what makes it so special. There is not just one recipe for a dumpling; it is a melting pot of one’s past experiences and personal touches. It represents a sense of community among people and acts as the common ground for everyone to discuss their favorite fillings and personal story. The recipe that I have included is for the dumplings I grew up eating. I tried to squeeze as much of the measurements from my mom. Feel free to adjust with your favorite ingredients — this is simply a great baseline filling. My mom would often add mushrooms, carrots or anything she felt like adding (or whatever was cheap at the supermarket). Therefore, feel free to experiment with new flavors, and happy dumpling making!

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Photo by Matthieu Joannon on Unsplash

Dumpling Recipe by Bryan Wang and Mama Wang

Ingredients:

Directions:

For dumplings: • ~50 dumpling wrappers (you can definitely make your own wrappers if you have the time but if not, you can usually find these in an Asian grocery store) • 1 pound of ground pork (chicken also works fine) • ~13 green onions • Small knob of ginger • Soy sauce • Sugar • Oyster sauce

1) Wash and prep all of your veggies. Mince the green onions along with any other veggie you plan on adding.

For sauce: • Black vinegar • Garlic • Red chili • Sriracha • Sugar

2) Take a spoon and scrape off the skin of the ginger and mince very finely (you can use a food processor too if you want). 3) Place the ground pork into a bowl. Mix in your green onions, soy sauce, sugar and a little bit of oyster sauce (I know, very Asian mom of me to not give you the measurements for the sauces). Use your intuition and judgment — if you want it to be saltier, pour more soy sauce or oyster sauce and if you want it to be sweeter, then pour in more sugar. If you want to taste test the meat, you can put some into a pan and cook it to taste. But, as my mom would say, you have to use your other senses to guide you. It should smell and look good without having to taste it. a) Please note that less is more — you can always add more later on if it doesn’t taste right, but you can never take it out once you’ve added it, so go slowly.

4) Place a small bowl of water, your dumpling filling and dumpling wrappers on a table and grab your closest friends and family (It’s more fun to do it in a group, but you could totally do it by yourself while watching a movie, or maybe a combo of both). 5) Dab a ¾ spoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper, dip your hands into the water and wet the edges of the wrapper. You can fold it however you want, just make sure it’s tightly sealed (this is why we wet the edges). a) Some people like to fold it into a calzone style. I grew up trying to imitate my mom’s beautiful, uniform small folds, but I’ve never been the greatest at it. Just continue practicing and have fun with how you shape your dumplings. Practice makes improvement! 6) Once you have finished using up all of your ingredients, you can freeze them or cook them immediately. Simply put them into a pot of boiling water for 8 minutes, or until they float for a couple of minutes. You can also pan fry them with a bit of oil and water. 7) While you wait for your dumplings to cook, pour in your black vinegar, garlic, chili flakes, sriracha and sugar into a bowl (again, play around with it and adjust to your personal taste). Enjoy your dumplings by dipping them into the sauce (you can also eat them plain or with some ketchup hehehe don’t @ me until you’ve tried it). 8) Enjoy!! Now go impress everyone with your dumpling making skills :)

Vol. XLIV, Issue I 19

There You Are By Jessica Kwok Here, where the moniker is “One Happy Island” and the serene ocean waters are true as advertised, Clear and blue! almost too precious to touch, for fear of disturbing it so unlike the tainted waves back home but nevermind that as a subtle splash of coolness embraces your knees, drawing you in and I am with you, pulled along by the enchanting yet deceiving line… Come along with me to the beyond, enveloped by the exploding hues spread across my entire body refl fleecting your fantastic shadow as you drew into my surface,

I ❤ ARUBA marking your presence in my expanse. 20 ASIAN OUTLOOK

9/29/22, 2:06 PM

IMG_0430.HEIC

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1h9SeH5-wuCg8aOK24WPtsYUK1bfsySDn

Photos by Jessica Kwok Background Image byXandtor

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Vol. XLIV, Issue I 21

Travel Around the World

MONOPOLY By Grace Chen

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Vol. XLIV, Issue I 23

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Asian Outlook | Fall 2022 Issue #1

Articles inside

Five Chill Games for a Cozy Day Nan Lin

Learning to be Filipino Hubert Zhou